NCAAbbs

PLAYOFF SERIES: Western Conference quarterfinal; Sharks lead 2-0.
The St. Louis Blues are loaded with veterans with plenty of playoff experience.

That hasn't been apparent through the first two games of this postseason.

St. Louis looks to avoid a 3-0 series deficit when their quarterfinal series against the disciplined San Jose Sharks shifts to the Savvis Center.

With the Blues and Sharks meeting in the first round for the third time in five seasons, this figured to be a physical series. While St. Louis has played a rugged style, it also has been undisciplined and taken far too many penalties, resulting in 17 power plays for San Jose.

After the teams played a fairly even contest in San Jose's 1-0 overtime victory in the series opener, the Blues came unglued in Game 2. St. Louis gave the Sharks 13 power plays, with captain Chris Pronger spending eight of the game's first 14 minutes in the penalty box.

``The first game, they let the marginal stuff go,'' said Pronger, who got six minor penalties. ``All of the sudden, when they switch and call everything, it's difficult. It's tough to switch gears midstream like that, and it's up to us to adapt, but it's a little late.''

Patrick Marleau scored the first of his three goals late in the first period on the power play, and Evgeni Nabokov nearly posted his second consecutive shutout in San Jose's 3-1 victory.

Marleau added another power-play goal in the second period and completed the second postseason hat trick in Sharks' history with a short-handed goal in the third. Vincent Damphousse set up two scores for San Jose, two wins away from its second conference semifinals appearance in three seasons.

Marleau's performance came after he scored just one goal in the final 17 games of the regular season.

``I'm getting used to new linemates, but if I'm working hard and trying things that will make the team win, it doesn't really matter,'' Marleau said.

While St. Louis has had difficulty containing San Jose's speed, the Sharks also have been much better keeping their aggression under control.

``They talked about getting more physical so we were expecting them to disturb our discipline and get under our skin,'' Damphousse said. ``But it didn't work. We kept our cool. We just turned the cheek and tried to battle through.''

St. Louis could have a bigger problem on its hands than a lack of discipline.

Starting goalie Chris Osgood, who appeared to injure his knee in the first period, left Game 2 after allowing Marleau's third goal 48 seconds into the third period and was replaced by Reinhard Divis.

Though Osgood is expected to start Game 3, the Blues need him to be in top form if they are to get back into this series and rally from a 2-0 series deficit for the first time since 1972.

Winning Game 3 is critical for St. Louis because only two teams -- the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders -- have won a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.

``We're still in this series,'' Blues coach Mike Kitchen said. ``Absolutely. Absolutely. The way we play, look at the way we played. Our (penalty kill) was terrific. We have two home games coming up. We win there, we tie the series. I like our energy. We just have to make sure of our discipline. We get that, we'll be fine.''

Including a 3-0 loss at Minnesota in their regular season finale, the Blues have scored one goal in their last three games. Left wing Keith Tkachuk, the team leader with 33 goals this season, has no points in his last five contests.

Game 4 is Tuesday at the Savvis Center.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Sharks - 104 points; 2nd seed. Blues - 91 points; 7th seed.

PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Sharks - Marleau, 3 goals; Damphousse, 3 assists; Marleau and Damphousse, 3 points; Niko Dimitrakos, 6 PIM. Blues - Doug Weight, 1 goal and 1 point; Pronger, 12 PIM.

PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS: Sharks - Power play: 11.8 percent (2 for 17). Penalty killing: 100 percent (12 for 12). Blues - Power play: 0.0 percent (0 for 12). Penalty killing: 88.2 percent (15 for 17).

GOALTENDERS: Sharks - Nabokov (2-0, 1 SO, 0.47 GAA); Vesa Toskala (no appearances). Blues - Osgood (0-2, 2.18); Divis (0-0, 0.00).

St. Louis 4, San Jose 1

By R.B. FALLSTROM, AP Sports Writer
April 13, 2004

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Sillinger has played for 10 teams in his 14-year NHL career, tying a league record. All that traveling and no hat tricks. Until now.

The St. Louis Blues' late-season pickup had his first career three-goal game in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, helping a much more disciplined team work its way back into the first-round series.

``My little boys told me they wanted me to score a hat trick and my wife laughed,'' Sillinger said. ``She goes, 'If he ever gets a hat trick we'll fill the house with balloons.

``We'll be filling the house with balloons when I get back and see them in Phoenix, and hopefully it won't be for a while.''

The Sharks lead the series 2-1, heading into Game 4 Tuesday night in St. Louis.

``It was kind of funny to read that the series was over,'' coach Ron Wilson said. ``We won two home games and now they've come back. Now they'll have something to think about tonight and come better prepared tomorrow.''

Sillinger, acquired March 4 from the Coyotes, seemed to be a low-key pickup at the time. But he provided an immediate boost for a team that qualified for the playoffs on the 81st game, getting four goals and five assists in 16 games.

He gave the Blues, who have rallied to win a series after trailing 2-0 only once in 13 tries, yet another boost in Game 3.

Sillinger was elevated to the first line with Keith Tkachuk and Pavol Demitra, switching places with Petr Cajanek. He helped the Blues finally get to Evgeni Nabokov.

``They've been working pretty hard and you have to give them credit,'' Nabokov said. ``They got two breaks but they deserved those breaks.''

Nabokov set a franchise record with nine regular-season shutouts and nearly had two in the first two games of the series, stopping 52 of 53 shots in 1-0 and 3-1 victories. His dominant run ended in the second period when Dallas Drake blocked a shot from the point by Tom Preissing just as Sillinger's penalty for elbowing was expiring.

Drake deflected the puck off his skate to a streaking Sillinger, who outraced Preissing to the net and beat Nabokov with a shot between the pads to give the Blues their first lead in the series.

``Best pass I could give him, I'll tell you,'' Drake said. ``Better than my stick right now.''

Drake made it 2-0 at 17:24 when he deflected an innocent-looking wrist shot from the point by Eric Weinrich past Nabokov. Jonathan Cheechoo scored his first career playoff goal for the Sharks early in the third to slice the gap to one, reawakening the Blues.

Again, Drake made unusual contact with the puck.

``It hit me in the shaft,'' Drake said. ``Like I said, keep it away from my stick blade and I'll be all right. I got a piece of it.''

A little over two minutes later, at 7:51 of the third, Sillinger again broke loose off a backhand feed from Keith Tkachuk to make it 3-1. Then he wrapped it up with an empty-net goal, scoring from deep in the Blues' zone, with 46.9 seconds to go.

The Blues' defense, anchored by goalie Chris Osgood, did the rest. Osgood was pulled early in the third period of Game 2, ostensibly to shake up the team, but also had appeared to have injured his right knee earlier in that game.

He showed no signs of a physical problem in Game 3 and benefited from a defense that allowed few rebounds. Wilson faulted his team for a lack of aggressive play.

``In the second period when they pushed, we kind of sat back and didn't push back,'' Wilson said. ``In the third period we did, but the deficit was too much.

``We had too many guys who weren't on top of their game and you can't have that in a playoff.''

Undisciplined play by the Blues in Game 2 led to 13 Sharks power plays, and two of Patrick Marleau's three goals, in San Jose's 3-1 victory.

Physical play is an integral part of the Blues' game, but they avoided getting too rough in Game 3, getting whistled for one minor penalty in the first two periods and only two more in the third.

``Obviously, we needed to initiate and not retaliate,'' Sillinger said. ``We did that tonight. We stuck to our game plan, we didn't get frustrated and we'reright back in the series.''

Notes

Sillinger and J.J. Daigneault are the only players to play for 10 teams. Daigneault also had a stint with the Blues. ... The Blues' pregame video, featuring Roy Schneider shooting the shark in the movie ``Jaws,'' drew a huge cheer. ... Blues forward Ryan Johnson was injured when he was sent flying by an Alexander Korolyuk check midway through the first period and did not return. ... Marleau was held to three shots after his Game 2 hat trick. ... TheSharks had won four in a row overall against the Blues.